Firstborn Kids Seem to Have More Food Allergies, Hay Fever

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Firstborn Kids Seem to Have More Food Allergies, Hay Fever

But they don't have more asthma or eczema than their siblings, study finds

SUNDAY, March 20 (HealthDay News) -- Firstborn children may be more likely to

suffer from certain types of allergies, finds a new study.

Japanese researchers surveyed parents of more than 13,000 children aged 7 to 15

and found that a child's birth order did not seem to affect the prevalence of

asthma or eczema.

However, firstborn children were more likely to have hay fever, pink eye due to

allergy and food allergy. In fact, the investigators found that the prevalence

of food allergy was 4 percent in firstborn children, 3.5 percent in second-born

children and 2.6 percent for children born later.

" It has been established that individuals with increased birth order have a

smaller risk of allergy. However, the significance of the effect may differ by

allergic diseases, " first author of the study, Dr. Takashi Kusunoki, of the

pediatrics department at Shiga Medical Center for Children and Kyoto University,

both in Japan, explained in a news release from the American Academy of Allergy,

Asthma & Immunology.

The study was scheduled for presentation Sunday at the annual meeting of the

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, held in San Francisco.

Further research is needed to learn more about how birth order affects allergy

risk, Kusunoki and colleagues concluded.

Experts note that research presented at meetings has not been subjected to the

same type of rigorous scrutiny given to research published in peer-reviewed

medical journals.